Historical skills courses

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of oral history. Participants will learn though classroom teaching and practical sessions how to conduct their own interviews. As well as addressing theoretical and methodological issues, An Introduction to Oral History will help students to develop practical skills in interviewing, recording, and the organisation and preservation of oral material.

This workshop provides a step-by-step instruction to creating your own wordpress website to use as an online research and academic profile. We will look at why this is useful for historians, how best to manage such a website (particularly how much time to spend on it), and guidance to linking the website to social media channels.

The Institute of Historical Research is delighted to welcome those commencing research degrees in history and related disciplines in London, the South East and throughout the UK. Over the course of an afternoon, we shall introduce the IHR and its remit to assist and promote historical research of all sorts. Join us for lunch and then learn about our library, seminars, conferences, publications, website and training in specialised research skills and how they can help you. Hear also about the History Lab, the postgraduate support network run by and for those undertaking research degrees in history. Free to all new research students in history and in historical subjects from other disciplines.

Abstract

The Institute of Historical Research is delighted to announce the return of its training programme for local historians, now in its sixth year. In 2017 we have a brand new format; we shall be holding two day schools: a winter school in February, which will cover local history in general, and a summer school in July, devoted specifically to London history.

The London History Day School is presented in association with the Centre for Metropolitan History (CMH) and will feature tutors from the principal archives and research units concerned with London. We shall cover the incredibly rich and abundant history of London and its surrounding area, exploring both its identity as a capital city but also the special qualities of its many constituent towns, vilages and suburbs. Participants will have ample opportunities to discuss their own work with each other and with the experts; the aim is to provide a showcase for London local history and a forum for the exchange of ideas, views and approaches.

This course aims to provide a critical introduction to some of the most influential frameworks of explanation in historical work today. Taught on Wednesday evenings (5.30-7.00) by Professor John Tosh, Dr John Seed and Professor Sally Alexander, Explanatory Paradigms will explore one explanatory approach each week in depth through a combination of a lecture and seminar discussion based on the students’ own reading.

This half-day workshop explains the theory and practice of correct referencing by historians. It explores the different citation systems historians use and explains when, where and how to cite sources and authorities both manually and using citation management software.

The ‘spatial turn’ is now well established in history and scholars, publishers and readers now frequently expect to see space to be used as a category of analysis, maps used as sources, and research illustrated with custom maps. However, without training in geographical techniques, tools, and even terminology, it can be challenging for historians to begin to work with this material. This two day course is designed to first introduce the history and concepts of mapping, along with the most basic ways of producing your own maps, before then moving on to a second day focusing on QGIS, the widely-used open-source GIS software package.

‘There is a general lack of training related to using oral history in an academic context. This course was a very welcome development’ – participant in an Institute of Historical Research and Oral History Society Spring School to be staged again between 19 and 21 April 2018 at Senate House, London WC1E 7HU. The Oral History Spring School covers the theory and practice of oral history with the help of leading UK oral historians. Participants should have prior experience of oral history work to be ready to discuss remembering, the emotions, analysing data, the re-use of oral history interviews and contexts for oral history outputs.

An introduction to the use of art, photography, film and other visual sources by historians (post-1500). Through lectures, discussion and visits the course will explore films, paintings, photographs, architecture and design as historical sources, as well as provide an introduction to particular items both in situ and held in archives and libraries.